Introduction

Road Name and Number

As the first country in Waze, Australia has a complete set of automatically generated road shields. They are generated by the system, if a certain pattern in applying the Road Name & Number is observed. Please note that this is a special process: it is only running once a week and has to be implemented in the tile build too. So it may take up to two weeks, before a new edited shield appears in the client.

Shields in the Client; Picture showing the test area created during the implementation

To get a road shield displayed in the app, the form of the shield and the number (numeric or alphanumeric) have to be coded in the street name in a predefined pattern. Please use the patterns exactly as stated here, otherwise the display in the app will not work properly.

Traditional route numbering

Road Shield Example(App Screenshot)

Pattern

Example streetname in WME

National Highway

NHx - NameNHxx - Name

NH1 - Stuart Hwy

National Route

NRx - NameNRxx - Name

NR1 - Pacific Hwy

Alternate National Route

ALTNRx - NameALTNRxx - Name

ALTNR1 - Dandenong Rd

State Route

SRx - NameSRxx - NameSRxxx - Name

SR8 - Anything Hwy

Metro Road

MRx - NameMRxx - Name

MR5 - Centenary Hwy

Rural Road/Route

RRx - NameRRxx - Name

RR99 – Dontknowit Rd

Tourist Road/Route

TRx - NameTRxx - Name

TR7 – NoIdea Rte

Alphanumerical route numbering

Road Shield Example(App Screenshot)

Pattern

Example streetname in WME

National M

NMx - NameNMxx - Name

NM39 - Goulburn Valley Fwy

Mx - NameMxx - NameMxxx - Name

M3 - Eastern Fwy

National A

NAx - NameNAxx - Name

NA8 - Barton Hwy

Ax - NameAxx - NameAxxx - Name

A4 - Capricorn Hwy

Alternate A

ALTAx - NameALTAxx - Name

ALTA2 - Warrego

Bx - NameBxx - NameBxxx - Name

B12 - Road Name

Cx - NameCxx - NameCxxx - Name

C234 - Example Rd

Abbreviations and acronyms

We decided long ago to use abbreviations (Rd instead of Road) and made an extra page for it, because all abbreviations have to be introduced to TTS for proper pronounciation. For place, feature, roadway & traverseable path naming, please see:

Unfortunately this has not been observed in the past, so we have to do a lot of fixing.

Road types and Lock levels

Waze will soon implement a system of "road ranking" for Australia - where segments will be automatically locked at a level based on how "busy" or "important" the system thinks they are. This is currently under testing, we don't know how the final version will work or what impact it will have. When this does come in, we will no doubt have to revisit this policy.

This part of the policy is not intended as a guide to whether or not a segment should be locked. That should always be an informed decision made by an editor based on the best way to label the road type that would be helpful to the driver on that road. More information can be found here. This policy is a guide for the MINIMUM locking level to be used for the convenience of the community, plus some notes about when not to lock:

You should not normally be locking segments unless they are complete:

Segments aligned to aerials(there may be some exceptions to this)

Junction geometry adjusted for proper navigation instructions

Turn restrictions set correctly

Road type set correctly

Correctly named

You should not lock segments unless you are regularly visiting the forums to deal with unlock requests

If you lock segments, your name will be recorded on them and you will generally be considered responsible for their state

Any editor found mass-editing lock levels simply because this policy suggests a minimum lock level is likely to face reduction of editor rank and/or removal of AM/CM rights.

Unfortunately there is no nation-wide consistent system (i.e. NR8 is according to official WA governmental documents a freeway, even if it would be a Minor Hwy by its shield according to QLD or VIC standards). So use judgement and discration in combining the shields with the proper roadtype.

Freeway

Freeway, motorway, expressway and tollway. There must be no intersections and there must be no access or exits except from ramps. Usually designated by a gold-on-green alphanumeric road number designation that begins with the letter "M".In the case of tollways the sign is presented in a gold-on-blue style, but for toll roads are handled in another way we don't cover it with the road shields.

Road Type: Freeway

City: activate No-City checkbox

Name: <Mx>" - "<Name> i.e. "M3 - Eastern Fwy"

Lock: lv5

Major Highway

National highways. Usually designated by gold-on-green shields with the word "National" written at the top. May contain alphanumeric numbering with the letter "A" at the start of the number, or may just use a number. Also referred to as primary routes.

Minor Highway

State highways or State Roads. Usually designated by a numbered white-on-blue bullet sign, or by a gold-on-green alphanumeric designation starting with the letter "B" or "C". Also referred to as secondary and tertiary routes.

A special note on locking:The above mentioned roadtypes are vital for routing calculation in Waze, therefore they need to be locked to prevent especially new editors from unintentionally damaging these traffic arteries. But keep in mind that a lock also blocks lower level editors from adding streets. So only apply a lock on a segment, if all roads are adjected.

If creating a new road in a not yet mapped area, you also may choose to add just one short segment of an adjecting road (a handle) to create the junction and allow a lower level editor to connect the surrounding streets later without beeing blocked by the locked highway.

Primary Street

Waze Road Type

Description

Primary Street

Main Roads, Regional Roads, Tourist Drives, Scenic Drives, etc that are not classified as highways. They connect suburbs and towns. May also include roads designated as "D" roads in some states. Also referred to as tertiary routes.

Other Situations

Roads Not Matching Aerials

With the change to Google aerial imagery there will probably be some situations where the current road layout doesn't match the images. It is advisable that these are locked at L4+, to prevent well-meaning editors "correcting" them.

"Unexpected" Situations

These are odd situations that occur sometimes. For example: a no-right-turn where you wouldn't expect one; a short one-way segment at the end of a two-way road; a deliberate no-name segment joining double-mini roundabouts. If you think that a feature is likely to be reverted by someone who doesn't know what was intended, it is acceptable to lock it.

Vandalism

If an area is subject to repeated bad edits, it may be locked up. This should only be done after discussion with the Australian Community team and the approval of the Country Managers (who may want to take further action).

Toll Segments

These should be locked to L5 to prevent interference.

Level 6 Locks

So far we have not identified any occasions where we really need to use L6 locks. We don't have so many L5 editors that we can't all keep track of what's going on, so we hope not to need it. But, if you have a situation that you feel needs a L6 lock, please post on the forum for discussion.

Pedestrian refuges and painted road separations (cross hatching that can be driven over) should not normally be split.

Special Note

Keep in mind that Waze actually works best when roads are not split, because all reports made in the app for the other carriageway on split roads are in vain, because the app currently doesn't support these kinds of reports. Road splitting used to be more common in the past, so we have since increased the conditions to be met before splitting a road.

If there is a perfectly working split road that does not meet the above stated conditions in the editor, don't unsplit it. It's a lot of work that can be put into improving other areas of the Waze map, rather than the risk of losing valuable traffic data if editing is not done correctly.

If a split road isn't working and should be unsplit, then it is important to follow these instructions carefully.

Freeway carriageway naming convention

This policy was changed in February 2014.

Due to changes that have been made to the Waze App in recent times which has helped improve reporting of incidents on freeways (motorways), compass directions in addition to the road name are no longer required when mapping any road in Waze.

This does not apply to roads which have a compass direction in their actual name.

If there are existing roads with compass directions on them, please remove them.

All that is required is the route number (if applicable) and the name.

Example: "M1 - Monash Fwy"

On and Off ramps

This policy was changed in February 2014.

Exit Signage along M1 - West Gate Fwy

Exit signage along M1 - Monash Fwy

For the best balance between information and screen real estate, the following conventions are used. All ramps will be set as the 'ramp' type in the Waze Map Editor and be locked at the same level as the freeway which joins to them (level 5 in most cases). The route number(s) (if applicable) the name of the road and destination(s) should all be added for clear guidance to be given when using the Waze app.

PLEASE NOTE:

Naming is only to be used for freeway style on and off ramps. Please do not add names to forks, splits or slip lanes on other types of roads, as this is unnecessary for directions to work.

Off ramps to non-freeway style roads and freeway to freeway ramps

If the ramp exit sign shows a number as well as a street or highway name, it should be named "Exit 15: SR16 - Police Rd".

A colon has been added because it adds a pause, which makes the Text-to-Speech directions easier to understand.

If the ramp exit is not numbered, "Exit to C722 - Donnybrook Rd" will do. The colon is not necessary when there is no exit number.

If an ramp exit number contains one or more letters, include it exactly as displayed on the sign: "Exit W2: ALTNR1 - Kings Way".

Off ramps that don't have a fork along them

If there is no fork along the off ramp, then place the destination(s) on the off ramp itself.
Example: "Exit to C422 - Koo Wee Rup Rd to Pakenham / Koo Wee Rup"

Off ramps that do have a fork along them

For these ramps, some minor additions need to be made to the segment positioning to enable correct TTS (text to speech) instructions from the app.

Small 90 degree angles are to made to the 2 fork segments which come out of the fork node (refer to Detail #1 on image below).

The ramps which join the non-freeway style road need to have straight 0 degree joins at the end (refer to Detail #2 on image below). That is, the very end of the ramp needs to overlap the non-freeway style road for a few metres - achieved by dragging a geometry node from the ramp directly over the road it is joining.

The following naming conventions are to be used:

For the segment before the fork:

"Exit to M1 - Monash Fwy".

For the segments after the fork:

"M1 - Monash Fwy to Warragul". (e.g. for one fork)

"M1 - Monash Fwy to City". (e.g. for the other fork)

On ramps from non-freeway style roads

For on ramps, use this format. For example:

"Entry to M1 - Monash Fwy to Chadstone / City"

Unique scenarios

If you encounter a uniquely designed interchange or ramp system, and not sure of the best way to name the ramps, then ask for help from other friendly Australian Waze users over on the Australian Waze Forum: [1]

Naming

Due to the variety of different styles of naming and destination mentioning which is on signs across the country, and due to differences in the way the text to speech in the Waze App works as well as the limited space for ramp names to display until they are cut off, slashes, the word 'and' and the word 'to' may all be substituted for each other at the editors discretion to obtain the best naming result for a particular ramp.

Suburb and road names should not be shortened unless it's part of a standard Waze text to speech abbreviation. Otherwise, road names and destinations will sound incorrect when they are read out aloud.

Roundabouts

To aid navigation instructions, roundabouts should typically remain without a street name

City: enter either suburb/city

Street: Tick "None"

- where the app comes across a segment with no name it will use the next named segment as the next named instruction whilst retaining any turn signals.

If the roundabout does have a proper, signposted name, then this can be labelled using a 'Junction/Intersection' type landmark that fills the centre of the roundabout.

Freeway Service Centres

Use "Parking Lot Road" for all roads inside the Freeway Service Centres.This is necessary to avoid the creation of traffic reports.

You may use "Private Road" for limited access roads (with no public right of way). Ensure that they are set to unknown connectivity, turn restrictions are set so that no-one can turn into the road and the segment(s) and connecting segments are locked to enforce the turn restrictions.

Do not add a City or Street name to any road with the exception of the ramps.

Set landmarks for the major buildings on site (i.e. Services Building, Fuel and Hotels etc).